Binh Dinh

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Brothers in arms

In
the third part of a series on tourism sites along Con River in Binh
Dinh province, Hai Hau goes in search of the home of three brothers,
who rose up against tyranny and liberated Vietnam over 200 years ago.

The
Con river flows through the village of Kien My in Phu Phong-Tay Son
town in Binh Dinh province. From this charming and humble setting in
the late 18th century, three young men rose up to lead an unlikely
rebellion that saw them defeat the local Nguyen Lords of the south and
the Trinh Lords of the north, before audaciously routing a Chinese army
in the capital of Thang Long (Hanoi).

These three men are known as the Tay Son heroes, the most famous being
Nguyen Hue, who would later rename himself Emperor Quang Trung. In the
beginning heavy taxes and corruption at the local level of government
motivated these brothers to rebellion.

They styled themselves as the champions of the people and proved to be
popular rebels. As they swept through the land their slogan had been
“fairness, no corruption, only loot the rich, and help the poor”.
Nguyen Hue stated his goals were to end oppression, reunite the country
and power to the Le Dynasty emperor in Hanoi. He also promised to
remove corrupt officials and redistribute land.

When Quang Trung eventually took the throne as emperor he proved as
astute a politician as he had been a general. In control of a united
country that was much larger than any previous ruler of Vietnam, the
new Emperor distributed land to the poor peasants, encouraged artisans
that had been suppressed, allowed religious freedom, re-opened Vietnam
to international trade and abolished Chinese as the official language
of the nation.

The new official language was the Vietnamese script Chu Nom. His
political shrewdness and military prowess can be traced back to his
scholarly upbringing. As children the three brothers were dedicated to
the study of literature, history, and the military arts. A number of
well regarded and erudite tutors had trained the brothers and
encouraged them to fulfil their potential.

Standing under the tamarind tree in the garden of the home where the
Tay Son heroes were born and raised in Kien My village, I try to
picture the brothers practicing martial arts outside or burrowed into
works of literature inside. To think that the tamarind tree still
stands and flourishes is to realise the brevity of human life – no
matter how heroic or historic.

There is also a well dug by the heroes’ family that is said to be
sacred. It is said sick people have healed themselves by coming here to
make offerings at the Tay Son temple and drink water from the well.
Whether sick or not, people come from all four corners of Vietnam to
taste water from the well. An old verse that Kien My villagers’ sing,
goes “We will always remember the tamarind tree, the well and the yard
of the communal house that have done us good”.

After Quang Trung’s untimely death from an unknown illness, the Tay Son
dynasty slipped into a quick decline. Slowly but surely, Nguyen Anh,
later Emperor Gia Long, seized control of Vietnam with the aid of
French and European mercenaries. The Tay Son family ancestral home was
razed by the Nguyen dynasty’s forces. But the villagers would not
abandon the spirits of their local heroes.

A new temple dedicated to the Tay Son dynasty was built on the ruins of
the old house. The new structure was referred to as a communal house so
as to not to incur the wrath of the Nguyen dynasty, who would
undoubtedly have razed the building again had they got wind of it.
Today the communal house, tamarind tree and the well are all part of
the Quang Trung Museum.

Inside there are statues of the Tay Son brothers as well as their most
esteemed officials, such as Ngo Van So, Ngo Van Ky and Ngo Thi Nham as
well as Bui Thi Xuan, a fearless female general. Besides the museum
complex there are other traces of the Tay Son dynasty. Nearby you will
find Go Da Den (the Black Rock hill), where Nguyen Nhac (the eldest of
the three brothers) set up a martial arts training ground for the Tay
Son troops.

Kien My villagers like to say that on restless moonlit nights, they can
hear the sounds of horses galloping and the voices of Tay Son troops
cheering. In Kien My there is also the remnants of an old wharf called
Truong Trau where people traded betel leaves in Tay Son times. Betel
leaves and areca nuts were transported elsewhere to barter for salt or
farming tools.

The Tay Son brothers came from a rich betel trading family and Nguyen
Nhac, who was actively engaged in the trade, was known to his friends
as ‘brother betel’. Villagers from Kien My still practice several
traditional trades that hark back to Tay Son and presently life seems
to be treating most people well.

Once the village’s blacksmiths were famous for forging swords and
lances for swashbuckling heroes and royal armies, but nowadays the
skilled craftsmen use time-honoured techniques to make shovels, spades
and other farming tools. Other trades include making bun (rice noodle),
rice paper, raising silkworms, spinning silk and cotton, making bean
cakes and trading betel leaves.

Every one I speak to seems to be proud of living on ‘royal land’. Every
home I peer into has a bust of Quang Trung, the Emperor, or Nguyen Hue,
the rebel hero. After the harvest, it is him who they will thank. It is
because of him, they believe, that the sun still shines on Kien My.